What did Bruce Lee die from?

[47MartialMan]

One thing is for sure, he popularized Kung Fu and Wing Chung. And got respect for Asians

[battousai16]

actually, i've heard from everyone who's met him that he had a huge ego. linda cadwell, dan inosanto, bob wall... they didn't say he wasn't kind, or skilled, but i don't think there's any denying his huge ego.

[47MartialMan]

Yes, I heard he had a ego as well. But he could back it up.....I guess........

[GhostlySykanRyu]

*shrugs* You call it egotistical, I call it absolute confidence. Either way, the man was amazing, and is deserving of no insults.

[47MartialMan]

I guess you can say that given your user name and style quotation.

 

But, it is easy to speak ill of the deceased. Though most Easterners think its taboo.

 

Hey, I like Bruce too. He inspired me, in "one way", to stick with the martial arts.

[CloudDragon]

We will never truly know why he was in that woman's apartment. To be honest with you, who cares? The man revolutionized martial arts and helped us break free from rigidity that would have killed traditional and non-traditional training as we know it. Why besmirch his contributions and memory bringing up individual opinions about Bruce's personal life? As far as obsessive, as a person speaking from years of experience working with mental health patients, Bruce was far from obsessive, he was driven, big difference, when you are obsessive, life stops in regards to the obsession, nothing else matters. Driven, however, shows a person with a goal and a reasonable way to reach it. Bruce Lee was definitely the latter.

[47MartialMan]

We will never truly know why he was in that woman's apartment. To be honest with you, who cares? The man revolutionized martial arts and helped us break free from rigidity that would have killed traditional and non-traditional training as we know it. Why besmirch his contributions and memory bringing up individual opinions about Bruce's personal life? As far as obsessive, as a person speaking from years of experience working with mental health patients, Bruce was far from obsessive, he was driven, big difference, when you are obsessive, life stops in regards to the obsession, nothing else matters. Driven, however, shows a person with a goal and a reasonable way to reach it. Bruce Lee was definitely the latter.

 

Well put. Good point

[Drunken Monkey]

....well, that's the thing.

 

it is long held that the reason that bruce lee found traditional (and for that read chinese) martial arts to be so fixed and dead and what have you,

 

is because he never got anywhere near the later stages of his training.

 

i mean, he left after learning the second form,

 

which does not mean he 'mastered' it.

 

if you look at his jkd concepts and the freeing yourself from the style,

 

it does read just like wing chun (and from i gather, kempo...).

 

in direct relation to wing chun, the things he couldn't figure out were things that were answered by the third form.

 

haven't you noticed how little he used his elbows in his films?

 

no third form....

[GhostlySykanRyu]

You are misinformed my friend. Lee realized that traditional styles were not enough after his bout with Wong Jack Man, a rival Kung Fu black belt that challenged Lee for teachin caucasions traditional techniques. While Lee won (reports of the battle are sketchy as to how long it lasted, but by all accounts Lee had pummeled him into submission:keep in mind this was before Lee reached his martial peak), he felt that it had taken far too long to win with Wing Chun, it not being dynamic enough. This led him to think more about how martial arts were being run, being bound by tradition, or honor that never really existed in the Western world. So he began to study and train harder than ever. During weight training, he damaged his fourth sacral nerve in his back, leaving him bed-ridden for six months. During this time he trained his mind and gathered an extensive martial and philosophical library. He trained his mind as he would later train his body. During and after this time he came up with the concepts that were Jeet Kune Do. And as his research progressed, he found that limiting one's self is a downfall.

 

As for him not using his elbows during films, I don't blame him. Perhaps he felt they were impracticle (though I'm sure he practiced plenty an empi during training). Perhaps he simply feel the need to use them as much as the backfist. Either way, it matters not.

 

Regardless of all of this, arguements like this will never damper the name, empire, and philosophies Lee forged.

[Drunken Monkey]

i'm misinformed?

 

the wong jack man fight offers nothing except that bruce lee won.

 

by all accounts it wasn't even a proper fight (don't romantasise it by calling it a 'battle').

 

chasing each other around like little boys?

 

i seem to recall something about hitting him in the back of the head?

 

and

 

wong jack man wasn't even a 'rival' as you put it.

 

he was merely someone who stepped up when some guys proposed the fight.

 

(....this was before Lee reached his martial peak), he felt that it had taken far too long to win with Wing Chun

 

yes.

 

like i said.

 

he wasn't exactly an advanced wing chun player.

 

he didn't know what to do,

 

not because of wing chun's failings

 

but

 

because of his own failings in not knowing all of wing chun.

 

anyway.

 

looks like we have another worshipper in our midst.....